LAGOS, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- The nine kidnapped Chinese
oil workers who were released early Sunday are in stable condition, their
employer said.
The nine are in stable physical condition and
currently resting at their base in Port Harcourt, the capital of Nigeria's
southern Rivers State, said Zhao Enhui, the managing director of the Chinese
company.
The nine oil workers were kidnapped last week by an
armed group in Nigeria and released safely on Sunday morning, the Chinese
Foreign Ministry reported on Sunday.
The nine were set free at 6:35 a.m. (Beijing time)
following 11days of tough diplomatic efforts, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang
Yu said in a statement.
The released workers will return to China soon, she
said.
A Chinese oil company compound was attacked by an
unidentified armed group in southern Nigeria on Jan. 25. Nine workers were
kidnapped and the others moved to a safe place.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry, together with the
Ministry of Commerce and Chinese diplomatic missions in Nigeria and elsewhere,
had worked with the Chinese company to carry out the rescue work, according to
Jiang.
The attack happened four days after five Chinese
telecom workers who had been kidnapped in Nigeria returned to China. They were
captured by unidentified armed men on Jan. 5 in the southern Nigerian state of
Rivers and released 13 days later on Jan. 17.
A spate of attacks and kidnappings on foreign
companies and workers have occurred in Nigeria, the largest oil producer in
Africa and the sixth largest oil exporter in the world with a daily output of
2.5 million barrels.
Related: Nine kidnapped Chinese workers safely
released in Nigeria
BEIJING, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Nine Chinese oil workers who
were kidnapped last week by an armed group in Nigeria, were released safely on
Sunday morning, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
The nine were set free at 6:35 a.m. (Beijing time)
following 11days of tough diplomatic efforts, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang
Yu said in a statement. full story>>
